Author of the Auran Chronicles

The rudderless hero

So, I’m working through the second draft of my current WIP, an urban fantasy that I can only describe as the Matrix meets ancient Celtic mythology (with a bit of quantum physics thrown in), and I’ve got a problem with my protagonist.

Basically, as this world is new to him, he’s spent a lot of his time being purely reactive, either being told this and that or just responding to various scenarios. Conversely, the antagonist, who IS well aware of how this mythical world works, drives her story forwards with gusto.

My fear now is that, until my hero starts to do things himself and acts on his motives, he just comes across as well, dull.

How do others do this? How do you make a protagonist who still has so much to learn be more proactive in the early stages of the story? It’s basically the old Hero’s Journey I know, so a bit of back reading on similar works/journeys is required methinks…